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Navigation, Guidance and Control of Parafoil Recovery System

For KIT Experimental Rocket


Takashi YATOH, Yu HIROKI, Itaru SHIDA
Shinichi SAGARA, Koichi YONEMOTO
Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan
(Tel : +81-093-884-3179; E-mail: yonemoto@mech.kyutech.ac.jp)
Abstract: A small experimental rocket was developed for the rocket launch campaign at La Courtine in France. This rocket has the
body length of 2m, weighs about 15kg and can reach to an altitude of about 700m by a solid rocket motor. The parafoil recovery
system is deployed at the apogee of the trajectory and guide the rocket to the landing point. This paper described the design, the
actual flight results of the onboard NGC (Navigation, Guidance and Control) system using GPS (Global Positioning System). The
timer sequence after ignition lets the side door of the body open to eject the drogue chute that immediately draws the parafoil
recovery system. After the full deployment, the drogue chute is separated. Once the receiving of signals from four GPS satellites are
established for position sensing, the NGC system start to pull the riser of the parafoil recovery system to control aiming directions.
Keywords: Navigation, Guidance, Control, Parafoil, Rocket

1. INTRODUCTION
The team of undergraduate and postgraduate students, who
belong to the Department of Mechanical and Control
Engineering at Kyushu Institute of Technology, has developed
a small experimental rocket to participate in the rocket launch
campaign in France this July [1]. The rocket launches were
conducted in the military camp of La Courtine that is located in
the central region of France. This camp with an area of 6,300ha
was founded in 1901 for the shooting training of infantry corps.
This rocket launch campaign, which has been sponsored by
the French Association of Planet Sciences and supported by
CNES (the French Centre National DEtudes Spatiales), has a
long history since 1962 for promoting university students of
aerospace engineering and amateur space engineers by
providing safe launch opportunities [2].
What most distinctive, attractive and educational of this
campaign is that the teams who participate in the campaign do
not compete for ranking, but challenge new technologies by
performing their own missions. They can exchange knowledge
mutually by internet, and can receive advises concerning basic
technologies, design standards and interface document [3] from
many specialists of the Planet Science and CNES at any time.
Every year about 20 teams participate in the rocket launch
campaign not only from France, but also from other countries.
There were teams from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany and
Great Britain in the past. This year Space Club Gifu, Space
Club Kansai, and the team from Kyushu Institute of
Technology gathered in La Courtine from Japan.

Fig. 1 Dimensions of the experimental rocket


The body cylinder is a monocoque structure made of thin
CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) tubes reinforced by
aluminum alloy flanges and stringers. The nose cone is made of
GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic). These five body
sections are fastened at each flange by bolts. The solid rocket
motor is called Le Chamois provided by CNES, which has
the initial mass of 3.4kg and the average thrust of 842N (total
impulse is 2,043Ns) [4]. The overview of the experimental
rocket is shown in Fig. 2.
A commercial power kite is employed for the parafoil
recovery system by modifying suspension lines and risers. The
aerodynamic characteristics were obtained by the free flight
experiments [5]. The drogue chute ejection and the parafoil
deployment mechanism were newly designed and tested [6].

2. EXPERIMENTAL ROCKET
The length of the experimental rocket is 2.0m with a mass
of 15kg, and is capable to reach an altitude of about 700m (Fig.
1). The body of the rocket consists of five structural sections. A
pitot tube, a beacon, a telemetry system and a power supply
battery for the NGC (Navigation, Guidance and Control)
system are mounted in the nose cone. Two microcomputers,
two video cameras and a power supply battery for the servo
actuators are mounted in the avionics bay. The parafoil
recovery system and the ejection/deployment mechanism are
installed in the development system bay. The solid rocket
motor is mounted in the engine bay. The extension tube is
designed to meet the margin of aerodynamic static stability
required by CNES.

Fig. 2 Overview of the experimental rocket

3. PARAFOIL RECOVERY SYSTEM

this operation.

The mission profile of the rocket launch and recovery is


shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 Turn control of parafoil

Fig. 3 Mission profile


The solid rocket motor is ignited by a remotely control
switch according to the count down of the launch control center
of CNES. When the rocket starts to liftoff along the launch pad,
the onboard timer begins to count immediately by a signal from
the separation switch.
The rocket continues its powered flight about 2.8 seconds
and reaches to the altitude around 700m in 10 seconds. At the
apogee of the trajectory, the side doors open and a drogue chute
is ejected to deploy the parafoil recovery system. When the
rocket begin to perform steady flight and the onboard
microcomputer recognizes the establishment of receiving
signals from four GPS satellites, the calculation of guidance
and control starts.
If the parafoil turns the rocket to the right or left direction,
the servo motor rolls up the right or left riser respectively to
decline the lifting surface (Fig. 4). This operation can be
realized by the riser control mechanism as shown in Fig. 5. The
rocket is guided by the parafoil to a target position by repeating

Fig. 5 Riser control mechanism

4. NAVIGATION, GUIDANCE
AND CONTROL SYSTEM
4.1 Avionics
The experimental rocket has an avionics that consists of
five electronic subsystems (Fig. 6)

Fig. 6 Block diagram of the avionics

The NGS system consists of two microcomputers (Fig. 7),


GPS (Fig. 8), air data system (pitot tube and pressure
transducers) and two EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable and
Programmable Read Only Memory). The first microcomputer
processes the data obtained from GPS, and the second
microcomputer performs guidance control calculation based on
the GPS data and velocity data obtained from the air data
system. The specifications of the microcomputer and GPS are
shown in Table 1 and 2 respectivly.

4.2 Power supply system


The power supply system has two batteries of 7.2 Volts DC
as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 Power Supply system

Fig. 7 Microcomputer
(H8/3048ONE)

Fig. 8 GPS
(geko201)

Table 1 Specifications of the microcomputer (H8/3048ONE)


Sixteen 10-bit general resisters
CPU
Maximum clock rete: 25MHz
ROM: 128 kbytes
Memory
RAM: 4 kbytes
Five 16-bit timer channels,
16-bit integrated
capable of processing up to
12 pulse outputs or 10 pulse
Serial communication Selection of asynchronous or
synchronous mode
interfase (SCI) 2
Full duplex: can transmit and
receive simultaneously
channel
Resolution: 10 bits
A/D converter
Eight channels, with selection of
single or scan mode
Resolution: 8 bits
D/A converter
Two channels
70 input/output pins
I/O ports
8 input-only pins

Table 2 Specifications of the GPS (geko201)


Size
Weight
Receiver
Acquisition time
Update Rate
GPS Accuracy
DGPS (USCG)
Accuracy
Velocity Accuracy
Dynamics
Interfaces
Antenna

48.3(W)99.1(H)24.4(H) mm
96g
Differential-ready, 12 parallel channel
Approx. 15 seconds (warm start)
Approx. 45 seconds (cold start)
Approx. 5 minutes (First
1/second, continuous
<15 meters RMS
1-5 meters with DGPS corrections
3 meters 95% typical with DGPS
corrections
0.1 knot RMS steady state
NMEA 0183, RTMC SC-104 and
RS-232 for PC interface
Built-In

The first battery supplies 5V DC through the regulator to


the NGS system, the telemetry system and the search system.
The second battery supplies 7.2V DC directly to the servo
motors used for controlling parafoil risers and regulated 6V DC
to the servo motors to open the ejection doors
4.3 Onboard computer program
The onboard microcomputer calculation program is coded
in ANSI C language. The flow charts for both the calculation
programs that processes GPS data and calculates navigation,
guidance control law are presented in the Appendix.

5. GUIDANCE LAW
5.1 Dynamic model
The following simple directional equation of motion is
derived when paying attention that the centrifugal force
balances with the acceleration of directional displacement:
2

V
Y = 0
R
where

: directional displacement
: velocity

: turning radius
The disturbances in terms of directional displacement and
turning radius are defined as follows:

Y = Y0 + y

(2)

R = R0 + r
where

y
r

: disturbance of directional displacement

: disturbance of velocity
The perturbed equation of directional motion can be
reduced from Eq. (1) by employing the disturbances defined by
Eq. (2):

V2
Y0 + y = 0 =
R0 + r
assuming

The actuation system, which is commanded by the NGS


system, has two servo motors for controlling parafoil risers and
two servo motors to open prafoil ejection doors.
The flight information is stored onboard in the EEPROMs.
It is simultaneously converted to voice signal and transmitted
by the telemetry system to the ground support system of CNES.

Y
V0
R

(1)

V02

V02
r
1
R0
R0

r
R0 1 +
R
0

y << Y0 , r << R0

(3)

Separating the steady state equilibrium equation from


Eq.(3), the following perturbed equation of motion can be
derived:

y =

V02
r
R02

(4)

5.2 Directional angle and angular velocity feedback


The relation between the stroke of riser and the turning
radius can be described as follows.

r = Rl l
where

l
Rl

(5)

: stroke of riser
: turning radius coefficient

in terms of riser stroke


The guidance law, which feedbacks the directional angel to
the stroke of riser, is defined by the following equation:

l = K + K  

where

(6)

: directional angle
: angular velocity of directional angle

K  : rate feedback gain


In the actual onboard computer program, the directional
angle is calculated from the relation between the velocity
vector of rocket and the vector from the present position of
rocket to the target position (Fig. 10). The angular velocity of
directional angle  can be calculated using the previous
directional angle in the discrete time frame as follows:

where

1
{ (k ) (k 1)}
T

(7)

T
k

: sampling period
: abbreviation of the discrete time kT
The amount of feedback stroke l in terms of the direction
angle

and the angular velocity

L0

: reference range

y +

V02 Rl
V02 Rl

K
y
+
LK y = 0


R02 L0
R02 L0

(9)

The appropriate proportional and rate feedback gains can be


calculated by solving Eq.(9).

4. FLIGHT RESULT

K : proportional feedback gain

 (k ) =

where

Taking account the relation between the stroke of rise and


the turning radius of Eq.(5), the guidance law defined by Eq.(6)
and the approximation of directional angle and the angular
velocity presented by Eq.(8), the perturbed equation of motion
Eq.(4) is reduced to the following quadratic equation of motion
in terms of directional displacement:

The flight profile obtained by the GPS was analyzed and


shown in Fig.11. The rocket was launched to the north-east
direction with the inclination of 80 degrees by the launch pad.
The powered flight phase by the solid rocket motor continued
2.8 seconds and reached the apogee of the trajectory at about
10 seconds after the ignition. The maximum altitude was more
than 600m. After the deployment of parafoil recovery system,
the rocket decreased its altitude with the sink rate of about
12m/s. The vehicle landed very close to the launch pad with the
distance of about 125m. The total flight time was 51 seconds
after the ignition of the solid rocket motor.

can be calculated

by Eq.(6) and (7).

Fig. 10 Definition of the directional angle


and the angular velocity

Fig. 11 Flight profile

5.3 Calculation of feedback gains


The directional angle and the angular velocity are
approximated as follows:

y
L0
y
 =
L0

(8)

There were two major different results from what had been
anticipated. The first one is the sink rate of gliding flight using
the parafoil recovery system. The anticipated sink rate was
about 6m/s. The second unexpected result was the landing
position, which is far from the target point than anticipated. It
can be concluded that the guidance was not performed form the
beginning of the parafoil gliding phase.
In order to look into the actual motion of the rocket after
deploying the parafoil, the photographs taken from the tracking

video camera were investigated. Six photos were displayed in


Fig. 12 from the ignition to the time when the rocket begun to
glide using the recovery system.

vehicle. But most of the experiments have been limited to


deploy the parafoil from balloons, helicopters, or aircrafts for
the purpose of studying the aerodynamic characteristics or
establishing the guidance and control systems. The are few
cases to utilize the system in an actual flights.
Although there are many subjects remained unsolved, the
experience to participate in the rocket launch campaign at La
Courtine in France was very fruitful from the aspect not only to
know how difficult it is to complete the actual development but
also manage the project under difficult circumstances. The
students had to understand the interface documents, to consult
with specialists, and finally to struggle with the ground tests to
be qualified to launch their own rocket. We are still confident
to continue our challenges next year.

(three dimensional trajectory)

Fig. 12 Photos taken from the tracking video camera


The drogue chute was ejected at 10 seconds after the ignition
and it drew the parafoil recovery system at 10.5 seconds. The
parafoil recovery system was fully deployed at 11 seconds, and
all the sequences of the deployment mechanism were
considered successful. But soon after the full deployment of the
parafoil, the rocket got into turning in a very high directional
angular velocity. Since the onboard NGC system was
programmed to start the guidance and control sequence in 10
seconds after the parafoil deployment, it led to a conclusion
that this turn had nothing to do with the NGC program. The
cause of this turn is considered that any structure of the
deployment bay became tangled in the riser of the parafoil
recovery system. But further investigation to detect the cause is
necessary
The three dimensional flight trajectory and the foot print of
the trajectory are shown in Fig. 13.

(two dimensional trajectory)

5. CONCLUSION
It is one of the unique challenges for university students to
recover the experimental rocket by parafoil recovery system.
There are many parafoil experiments led by industries,
government institutes or even university to research the
feasibility of applying this kind of recovery system to the space

(foot print of trajectory)


Fig. 13 Flight trajectory

REFERENCES
[1] Yonemoto, K., Sagara, S., Funatu, K., Yatoh, T., Nakamura,
T., Hiroki, Y., Fujie, S., Hoshino, M., The Student Rocket
of KIT Flies in the French Sky of the La Courtine, the 50th
Space Sciences and Technology Conference, Kitakyushu,
Japan, Nov. 2006.
[2] http://www.planete-sciences.org/espace
[3] Book of Specifications Single Stage Experimental
Rockets (Version 2.1), Plante Sciences/CNES (Centre
National DEtudes Spatiales), issued on 15th October, 2004.
[4] Les Propulseurs des Clubs Scientifiques Spatiaux
(Version 5), CNES (Centre National DEtudes Spatiales) /
ANSTJ, issued on Frbruary, 2002.
[5] Hoshino, M., Oshikata, Y., Kaji, S., Sagara, S., Yonemoto,
K., Evaluation of Flight Characteristics of Recovery
Parafoil By Free Flight Experiments, the 50 t h Space
Sciences and Technology Conference, Kitakyushu, Japan,
Nov. 2006.
[6] Fujie, S., Takafuji, H., Tsukinari, Y., Sagara, S., Yonemoto,
K., Development of Parafoil Deployment Mechanism for
Small Experimental Rocket Recovery, the 50 th Space
Sciences and Technology Conference, Kitakyushu, Japan,
Nov. 2006.

Fig. A-1 Calculation flow chart of the microcomputer


H8_1 (GPS data processing)

APPENDIX

Fig. A-2 Calculation flow chart of the microcomputer H8_2 (navigation, guidance and control law calculation)

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